Investigation continues into fatal officer-involved shooting in San Jose

March 19, 2013 11:41:26 AM PDT

by Cornell Barnard

SAN JOSE, Calif. --

Relatives of a San Jose man shot to death by police are outraged this morning. Officers say the man in a stolen car tried to ram their car and run down an officer last night.

A white Honda Civic with frontend damage was towed away from the crime scene. San Jose police said the Honda was stolen during a Monday night chase. Its driver used the car as a weapon, ramming undercover police cars, parked cars and trying to run down a police officer.

"The officer gave him commands to stop, the suspect continued to drive and accelerate towards him. That is when the officer fired one shot towards the suspect," said Santa Clara Co. Sheriff's Dept. Spokesman Jose Cardoza.

The suspect was shot once in the head and killed. Neighbors like David Bustamante ran for cover.

"I heard a gunshot and I ducked in the car -- it was duck and cover basically, because I didn't want to get shot," said Bustamante.

Police are not revealing the name of the suspect, but the family tells ABC7 News its 26-year-old Elias Mejia. Today police served a search warrant on the East San Jose home where Mejia lived with his mother.

"Police said that he tried to run an officer down last night," said ABC7's Cornell Barnard.

"It's not OK for them to shoot him in the middle of the forehead. They could have shot him in the arm or something. They didn't have to kill him. Their intentions were to kill and that's what they did," said Violet Loza, sister of suspect.

The family is demanding a meeting with police. There was a passenger in the car with the suspect. He is considered a witness and is cooperating with police.